Homebuy08

Centex sales rep mentioned that the prices on their website is the "base" price. It does not include the "upgrades" that go into their homes. The sales reps have also bluntly mentioned that they do not negotiate the prices. I then wonder how they have sold homes in the 850-900k range ? Maybe after the sale, they show pity on the "poor" buyers and reduce the price (pun intended). With the market going South by the day, I wonder how many buyers will end up paying the home builders' asking prices. In the last 6 months, the home prices in this area have decreased by 50k. Similar homes that were being listed for 900k 6 months ago are now being listed at 850k. - Sun Oct 5 2008, 12:47

What were these properties listed for ? Based on what I'm seeing, the short sales and "normal sale" homes have sold for anywhere from 5% - 10% less than the original list price. (A lot of sellers have reduced the price from the original list price, since houses are not selling for the original list price, unless it was priced aggressively)

Does anybody know if the REOs have sold for the list price or less than the list price or more than the list price ? - Wed Sep 24 2008, 07:51

The lowest price that a Paloma house has sold for seems to be 790k. I'd think that's a good ballpark for negotiation. Unless there's a catastrophe, I don't think Lennar will sell any Paloma house for 700k. - Sat Aug 23 2008, 19:53

A couple of months ago, the "list prices" for homes in the Campton community by Brookfield was in the 900s. But the recent sales data shows that they have sold atleast two houses in this community in the 750s... - Wed Aug 13 2008, 10:13

Over the last couple of months, there have been huge price reductions on many homes listed in MLS. This could be because the spring/summer selling season is coming to an end or because of the increased foreclosure activity (as mentioned by Bernanke-pau...) or both. If I were a betting person, I'll bet that prices will fall over the coming months. But how much and for how long is anybody's guess... - Wed Aug 13 2008, 10:08

I'm assuming that you are buying a new house from one of the builders. Unless your contract has an option for (re)negotiating the price, you might have a hard time to re-negotiate with the builder. If the builder is not open to renegotiate the price and you decide/threaten to backout, there is a likelyhood that you will lose your deposit. My friend had signed a contract for a new house last July. Seeing the sub-prime meltdown and the troubles in the banking industry, he went to the builder and asked to re-neogtiate the price. But the builder was reluctant and did not want to reduce the price even after he told the builder that he wanted to backout of the contract. Since his deposit was not huge, he decided that it made sense to lose the deposit rather than buy a house which was definitely going to lose value. But luckily for him, the builder refunded his deposit (although the contract had mentioned that he will not get it back). Fast Forward 6 months...the builder finally sold that house for 10% less. By the way, this was not in San Ramon, but in a city which is/was already seeing huge housing problems.

Maybe you can give some hints to the builder to guage whether they are open to renegotiate the price and then decide whether to wait till Sep or start the process sooner/later. In my opinion it makes sense for the builder to renegotiate with you, because if you backout, they will anyways have to sell the house for lesser than your original price.
Good luck with your renegotiation. - Sun Jul 20 2008, 00:25